Economics
Ex-RBA Board Member McKibbin Sees ‘Several’ Rate Hikes This Year
- McKibbin sees RBA cash rate pushing higher than markets imply
- Geopolitical risks could delay central bank tightening cycles
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Australia’s central bank will probably tighten monetary policy “several” times this year to stave off inflation, with surging oil costs fueled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict further adding to price risks, former Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin said.
“The inflation numbers in Australia, although much lower than the rest of the world, are still towards the top end” of the RBA’s 2-3% target, said McKibbin, who served on the board from 2001-2011 and is a professor of economics at Australian National University. “And the oil price shocks will obviously put upward pressure on that.”